


Right by my Side

by gongji



Category: Shin Sangokumusou | Dynasty Warriors
Genre: Gen, M/M, Palm Reading, Sima Zhao doing things to get out of work, that needs to be a tag all on its own
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 09:10:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2646371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gongji/pseuds/gongji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sima Zhao is up to his no good tricks again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Right by my Side

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a gift for [Noah's](http://weikass.tumblr.com/) birthday! I hope it's ok :0

“Jia Chong, let me see your hand.” These are Sima Zhao’s first words, exactly four minutes and seventeen seconds into his meeting with Jia Chong. He'd completely interrupted his advisor’s long speech of policy, ruling idle daydreaming to be more important than the state of affairs Jia Chong had been reciting to him from the scroll in his hands. It isn't an entirely uncommon occurrence – this wasn’t the first time his lord had tried to divert the conversation away from his responsibilities – but it is the first time Jia Chong actually stops speaking to give him a reply.

Perhaps that was his first mistake.

“Are you listening, my lord?” The tone in his voice is of obvious annoyance, but he is inherently patient. “This is an important issue. You’ll have to sign your decision on this one.”

But Sima Zhao only smiles lazily, the trademark grin that Jia Chong had come to know so well that read, ‘ _I’m about to come up with a great excuse’_ ; leaning back in his chair, he catches his advisor’s gaze and holds the direct eye contact. “I know, but listen, I’ve been reading up on some things lately and—”

“The latest political news, I hope?”

“What? No, it’s—”

“How to properly run a government?”

“No, listen it’s—”

“Please tell me you’ve at least read Sun Zi.”

“N—! Oh, wait, yes I have read— _Let me finish_!”

Jia Chong takes a deep breath to stabilize himself for his next words: “Alright, tell me.”

“I’ve been reading about fortune telling, actually!” He says brightly, and Jia Chong has to physically bite his tongue to stop himself from making any comment on how his lord chooses to spend his free time. “Did you know you can learn something about a person just by reading the lines on their palm?”

“No, I didn’t know that.” He says bluntly. Sugarcoating his words for this man is absolutely out of the question.

“I want to practice, but Yuanji won’t let me use her hand. So, as my trusted and dear advisor,” Sima Zhao holds out his hand as an invitation, “Let me see your hand!”

Jia Chong’s gaze diverts to the outstretched hand in front of him, but he makes no attempt to follow his lord’s instructions. “When did you get so interested in this type of thing?”

“I thought it would be a fascinating thing to look up in my free time.”

“You shouldn’t have this sort of free time.”

“Come on, Gonglü, does the idea of learning something about yourself like this freak you out? Scared by the idea that there’s something you don’t know?”

Jia Chong chooses to ignore the last statement, “And here I thought we’d buried this sort of thing with the old oracle bones of the Zhou.”

“Come on, just let me try once! I just want to see if what I’ve read is true!”

“No, this is foolish. We have work to do, and you need to sign these scrolls.”

Sima Zhao straightens his posture, “ _Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos. Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish in the crowd.”_

“That’s a direct quote from the _Yijing._ ” Jia Chong doesn’t even hesitate on calling his lord out, but he does so with a genuine, amused smile. “I didn’t know you've read it.” He jests.

“Damn! You know everything, Gonglü! I actually only memorized that to impress you.” Sima Zhao’s shoulders sag and his former smile reduces to a small, disappointed pout. “Fine, I can’t win with you…”

But somehow, seeing the pathetic expression on his lord’s face makes Jia Chong feel… something. He isn’t quite sure what it is, and he doesn’t exactly like it. “Fine,” He finds himself saying before he can really stop himself, “You can look at my hand once, and then you must get back to work.” His words bring back the light in Sima Zhao’s face, which both disgusts and amuses him, much to his own confusion. He extends his hand and Sima Zhao takes it in his own almost immediately.

“Let’s see here…” The Sima lord stares at his advisor’s palm, holding it at all angles to get a better view. Jia Chong watches him gaze so intently, so fascinated by his hand, that he almost wants to stop him and change his decision. Oddly enough, it made him feel vulnerable – his hands were fated to hold so much cold blood in order protect his lord from ever experiencing the same burden, and here he was touching where old bloodstains hid, tracing clean fingertips over the hard callouses from carrying his weapon, holding the very part of him that had taken so many lives in the name of his lord. This makes him uncomfortable, but at the same time, is somewhat welcoming. In truth, Jia Chong had long abandoned trying to make sense of the situation.

“What does it say, my lord?” Jia Chong breaks the silence that had fallen as Sima Zhao inspected the lines on his palm. His voice is tinged with a slight impatience, hoping the sooner they ended this, the sooner his lord could get back to work (and of course, the sooner Jia Chong could stop feeling these overwhelming emotions).

Sima Zhao’s quick grin spreads widely on his face before the words can even leave his mouth. “Well, I’m glad you asked.” With an unusually gentle touch he grazes the pads of his fingertips down and across, just barely touching the hard skin there. It sends a sudden and completely unwanted shiver down Jia Chong’s spine. “It says…” He flips his advisor’s hand over immediately, “You were destined to meet me,” He says and immediately plants a kiss on the back of his hand, looking up with a sly wink.

Jia Chong had never moved so quickly. He immediately jerks his hand away from Sima Zhao’s grasp and slams the scroll on the desk. “ _Enough_. No more nonsense.”

His lord sits back, laughs, and looks _disgustingly_ triumphant. “You know, with that color on your face I could almost believe you’re human.” Sima Zhao’s coy remark brings to light a grave realization: Jia Chong was blushing. And for once, he is completely unable to reply, his voice lost the moment he opens his mouth. How on earth could a single man render him so _useless_ like this? It bordered on the line of insane and… impressive. But it isn’t enough to excuse his lord’s actions, and so Jia Chong tries to find his voice by slamming the scroll on the desk a second time.

It seemed to work. “No more games. Read this and give me an answer by tonight.”

“Aww, you’re not going to read it out loud to me again?”

“ _No—_ ” Jia Chong says more forcefully than he had intended, and then clears his throat to correct himself. “No, I have other matters to attend to. If you’ll excuse me.” He turns to leave and hastily walks out of the room too quickly to make any sense of the words Sima Zhao calls out after him.

At his complete and utter dismay, the blush on his face lasted well into the rest of the day. Anyone too curious to make the mistake of noticing was met with a dangerous glare, and immediately wished they hadn’t. It was only agonizing hours later (and with much overthinking) that Jia Chong realized the truth of what had transpired between them: Sima Zhao had planned that all along.

But for once, he decides, he’d let his lord win this time.

**Author's Note:**

> Jia Chong is often making mistakes in my writing, I've noticed. Also, this is like the first time in one of my fics where no one has any extreme overreaction, and let me tell you, that's a weird feeling.


End file.
